


Solace

by helsinkibaby



Series: Partners [8]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Earth 2 - Freeform, F/M, Het, Partners AU, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-05-18 21:57:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5944629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Cisco and Barry tell them about Earth 2 and what - and who - they saw there, it's a sleepless night for Joe and Caitlin</p>
            </blockquote>





	Solace

**Author's Note:**

> This is the prompt I got - _6 - “i woke up in our dorm room in the dead of the night and u weren’t there and when u didn’t come back i got super worried so i wandered around campus until i found u shivering in the bleachers, and u looked really upset so i gave u my jacket and stayed out there with u for an hour until u finally told me what was wrong” au_
> 
> Which obviously I took as the loosest inspiration ever possible and this is an AU verse I already have going on and it involves an episode that hasn't even aired yet, so I don't quite know what's going on here!

Joe's not sure what's woken him at first, but when he turns onto his side, sees an empty space beside him, he has a pretty good idea. He stretches out one hand, runs it over the mattress, frowning when he finds it cold. He stands, makes his way down the hall and down the stairs, relief washing over him like a cool breeze when he sees the back of Caitlin's head over the top of the couch. She's staring straight ahead into the empty fireplace and she doesn't turn her head as he approaches. Which means either she's lost in thought and can't hear him, or she's not in the mood to talk to him and since everything was fine when they went to bed a few hours ago, Joe's willing to bet that it's the former. 

"Hey, what are you doing down here?" He keeps his voice light, gentle. He doesn't want to frighten her, equally doesn't want to wake the rest of the house. An undisturbed night's sleep is, after all, a rarity for both Barry and Iris.

"Couldn't sleep." Caitlin's voice is a whisper too, but not out of any sense of consideration. It's because it's thick with tears and when she looks up at him, he can see her eyes are red, her face blotchy. His heart sinks and he goes to her without conscious thought, wrapping his arms around her. It's his instinctive reaction and he struggles not to recoil when she sinks against him.  "Sweetheart, you're freezing." He loosens his grip enough to pull the throw from the back of the couch, arrange it around her shoulders before he pulls her back close against him. He splays one hand on her back, lets the other run over her hair and he just holds her, says nothing until she's ready to talk to him, however long it takes. 

It takes longer than he expects but eventually she takes a deep breath, lifts her head from his chest and looks up into his eyes. "I had a nightmare," she tells him. "About what Barry and Cisco told us... about the other me they met ... over there." 

"Ah." Joe nods because that makes sense. He'd seen Caitlin's face when Cisco had told her about seeing her doppelgänger on Earth 2; for a second he'd almost been convinced the younger man was making it up. Then he'd remembered that Cisco would never joke about something like that and he'd seen how Caitlin had looked down, pressed her lips together and changed the subject. 

"I was here," she says. "Upstairs, in your room. Getting ready for work, brushing my hair... when I saw that it was turning white. And while I was looking at that, my skin started going pale and my lips went blue... and then I heard your voice..." Tears swim in her eyes and she presses her lips together, like she's trying to keep herself under control. "I turned around and suddenly... you were frozen. And I held out my hand..." She does it now in illustration. "And you shattered..."

"Caitlin." His hands go to her shoulders, squeezing gently. "She's not you, you know that. That Caitlin Snow... she was probably never a cop, never had a Cisco to make that implant for her, made a completely different set of choices..." 

"I know that." She reaches up, swipes at her eyes with an impatient flick of her wrist. "But what if..."

"You won't." He's certain of it, as certain as he is of his own name. "You couldn't." He slides one hand down her arm, takes her hand in his. It's still cold, but not as cold as it was and nowhere near as cold as it would have been a year ago, pre-implant. Not for the first time, he sends up a prayer of thanks for Cisco Ramon and his technological genius. "That other Caitlin... Her powers didn't make her evil. Just like any of the meta humans we've met. Good people are good people, no matter what their abilities are." His other hand reaches up, cups her cheek. "I know you, Caitlin Snow... and you're one of the best people I've ever met." 

A tear slides down her cheek as a sob escapes her lips and the next thing he knows, her arms are around his neck, her face buried in the crook of his shoulder. "It's ok, Caitlin," he tells her quietly. "It's ok. I've got you." 

Leaning back, he holds her until her tears subside, then he takes her by the hand and leads her back to bed. She curls up against him, her head on his shoulder and, despite her tears, or maybe because of them, she's out like a light in no time. 

So is he. 


End file.
